Monday, August 31, 2009

Waytha is 'one and only' Hindraf leader - Malaysiakini


P Uthayakumar said last night that he and the four other Internal Security Act detainees from the Hindu Right Action Force were never the movement's leaders.
Speaking at his book launching function in Simpang Ampat, Penang, he stressed that his London-based younger brother Waythamoorthy was the movement's one and only leader.“Even I am just the movement's legal advisor,” he told some 300 people.
He recalled that inspector-general of police Musa Hassan was first to address the five as Hindraf leaders on the very day they were detained on Dec 13, 2007.
“We were all IGP-appointed Hindraf leaders,” quipped Uthayakumar.
He said that one shall either be elected or appointed by the movement members to claim oneself as leader.
“Waythamoorthy was duly elected by Hindraf committee a few years ago to head the movement. He is the rightful leader, not any other person,” said Uthayakumar, who heads the newly-formed Human Rights Party.
Uthayakumar was detained under ISA along with Kota Alam Shah state representative M Manoharan, DAP member V Ganabatirau, R Kengadharan and then unknown T Vasanthakumar.
They were detained without trial under the security law following a mammoth Hindraf rally in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 25, 2007.
“I, Manoharan, Kengadharan and Ganabatirau were Hindraf lawyers while Vasanthakumar was just a Hindraf activist,” said Uthayakumar.
They were all released from the Kamunting detention camp by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak three months ago.
Since then all five have gone separate ways.
Brothers accused of misappropriating funds
Ganabatirau and Vasanthakumar have constantly been sniping at Uthayakumar and Waythamoorthy, claiming that both brothers have misappropriated Hindraf funds.
While in detention last year, Vasanthakumar had lodged a police report accusing the two brothers of misappropriating some RM700,000 of Hindraf funds.
Uthayakumar explained that he had then specifically told the police officer investigating Vasanthakumar's report that Hindraf had only RM250,000 in its accounts as of January 2008.
He said subsequently he had lodged a report calling on the police to investigate the whereabouts of the remaining RM450,000, as alleged by Vasanthakumar.
“I told the police to locate the money and return it to Hindraf. The police never came back to me on that,” said Uthayakumar, the most famous Hindraf face.
He stressed that the current attacks by certain Hindraf detractors against him and Waythamoorthy were made with malicious intention aimed at tarnishing the brothers' reputation and undermining their struggle.
“It's defamatory and 'mala fide',” he said, slamming the critics that they should instead focus on resolving the plight of the Indian Malaysians.
Uthayakumar said he had listed down 4,932 types of human rights violations committed against the Indian community all these years in Malaysia. But he lamented these violations appeared unimportant to his critics.
According to Uthayakumar, before Dec 13, 2007, the current Hindraf critics were attacking Umno and Barisan Nasional for marginalising Indians.
But now, he said some have switched their focus to attacking him, Waythamoorthy and Hindraf with the sole agenda of splitting the movement and confused the community.

HINDRAF- Press release 30/08/2009- Candle light vigil

The reason turns of event on Friday, August 28, 2009 in front of the
State secretariat building in Selangor with an intention to incite and
create racial hatred feelings between Hindus and Muslims in Malaysia had
got the whole nation riled up against the Federal government led by
UMNO and the ineffectiveness of the police force to curb such
activities.

HINDRAF calls upon all peace loving Malaysians irrespective of their
religion, race, color and creed to join us in a candle light vigil at
Dataran Merdeka on September 5, 2009 at 6.45pm in solidarity to uphold
the concept that all Malaysians are equal with one another for their
individual right to co-exist without infringing and inciting racial
hatred amongst us and create a greater sense of public insecurity.

HINDRAF welcomes all NGO’s and Malaysians from all walk to participate
and make our stand that we Malaysians cannot be cowed by fear and
intimidation orchestrated by the UMNO led government and its stooges
for their own political needs.

HINDRAF stresses that Malaysia is for all Malaysians in equality and
fairness in protecting one another for the public benefit rather than
being marauded by UMNO led Federal government against public interest
as seen in the latest incident in Seksyen 23 in Shah Alam.

Those organizations that are interested to collabarate and walk with
us, please call Selvan on 016-3137840 after 6pm. To our Muslim brothers
and sisters fasting during this period please call Shanti on 019-621 1101 for
special arrangements.

Thank you.

P.Waythamoorthy

HINDRAF – Chairman

PRESS STATEMENT REBUTTING REPEATED DEFAMATORY STATEMENTS BY SIVANESAN OF DAP

By: Waythamoorthy 27th August 2009

I refer to the statement by Sungkai ADUN Sivanesan in Malaysia
Nanban on 27th August 2009 who have repeated defamatory statements
the latest being that I have taken RM35, 000 given by K. Vasanthakumar.

Sivanesan is no doubt confused and clouded on the facts and have made
allegations with bad intentions. Being a lawyer, he should understand
hearsay is as good as rumours without an ability to prove the factual
truth before an accusation being made. He is not a Hindraf member nor
has he any right to speak on behalf of Hindraf. He seem to
have been giving contradictory statements which is based on his
attempt to create a media spin to serve his political master is none
of his business – initially he said that I had collected a sum of
RM700, 000.00 for purposes of filing the civil suit against the UK
Government without any factual evidence. This I have denied
and am in the process of filing a defamation suit against him and 2
other DAP leaders.

Now he seems to be referring to a statement by K.Vasanthakumar that the
latter had given me RM35, 000.00 as base for his malicious and
defamatory statement on hearsay.

At the height of the mass arrest of Hindraf Supporters pre and post
November 25th 2007, K.Vasantha Kumar had formed a company in the name
of Hindraf Enterprise as Hindraf was not a formally registered NGO and
had used the account of Hindraf Enterprise to collect funds for
purposes of bailing out Hindraf supporters who were arrested and for Hindraf activities.
He was the signatory of the said account. Those
sums collected on behalf of Hindraf were withdrawn by him and held by
various individuals closely linked to Hindraf at that moment which
includes himself, Raidu (Ganapathy Rao’s brother) my ardent
Hindraf friends and family . On the 5th December 2007 (whilst I was out of the country) the IGP and AG had accused Hindraf and me of having links with terrorists
namely the LTTE. There was more reason to belief that the account of
Hindraf enterprise would be frozen and a decision on the
particular situation was made to entrust various individuals to hold
the sum of monies, which included me and others named above. I was
out of the country at the time of the decision and the said amount was
banked into my account by Vasanthakumar on his own prerogative.

These funds have been used partly to bail Hindraf supporters and
activities carried out by HINDRAF in seeking the release of the Hindraf ISA detainees, pay the detainees fines and Court attendance, accommodation and allowances for those attending
court from outstation ect. In fact Raidu stood bail for Uthayakumar
on 12th December 2007 for RM50, 000 from these sums collected in the
account of Hindraf Enterprise. All monies are accounted for and the
fund banked into my account during my absence is still with me.

I stress that at no instance have the funds collected been used other
than for the purpose in ensuring the release of Hindraf Supporters (who
were initially charged with attempted murder), the 5 detained under
ISA and the cause of the marginalized and suppressed Malaysian
Indians. In this process I do not expect any form of gratitude from
anybody nor any gratification as I do what I am doing out of my
personal conviction and belief that Malaysian Indians have been
cheated and short changed by Malaysian politicians. At the time of
filing the civil action against the UK Government in August 2007
Ganapathi Rao and Vasanthakumar was not part of Hindraf and none of
us in Hindraf knew the both of them. They only approached Uthayakumar
in late September 2007.

Sivanesan should know his facts before making wild and unfounded
allegations, which I view very seriously and his irresponsible act
for a cause that he serves his political masters as opposed to the
public interest. He and his fellow DAP leaders are deliberately making
unfounded allegations to divert from the Kg.Buah Pala issue where
Hindraf have taken a very firm stand that the village which is almost
200 years have to be preserved. Linking me with a financial scandal is
a cheap form of political antic and sandiwara by Sivanesan.

What ever it is, the truth has to prevail, and it is up to the
community to understand and comprehend the truth and what I do is
always for the truth for the systematically marginalized Malaysian
Indians as I have personally sacrificed my life for the goodwill of the
community without any expectation.

Sivanesan and those who have been around longer than HINDRAF
should be mature enough to understand the objective of HINDRAF and
its genuine leaders rather than posturing to serve their political
masters.

P.Waytha Moorthy
Chairman
HINDRAF

Kg.Buah Pala drama between Police and the Developer!


Timeframe :


From 6.45pm - Two plaincloth policemen came to Kg.Buah Pala to arrest Tamaraj, Murugan and Arumugam the committee members of Kg.Buah Pala under the instruction of Tuan Ibrahim and OCPD and Sjn.Uda.

-The policemen asked Mr.Murugan and Mr.Tamaraj to produce their IC and kept it with them, the committee members did not refuse the arrest but their IC was given back to them few minutes later after receiving a phone call.

-Police advised the committee to to meet Sjn.Uda at the Patani Road police station and I followed the committee to the station.

-At the entrance of the police station, Const.Rahiman said he has instruction from Sjn.Uda not to let the Villagers to enter the Station, we were instructed to stay outside in the rain until we pressure them to enter and our intention is to lodge a reoprt.


*Reporters present at the police station was chased out from there soon we enter the station although they came in with a valid pass.


From 7.44pm - Mr.Tamaraj and Mr.Murugan lodge a report against the for police harrassment, humiliation and threatening in Kg.Buah Pala.



From 7.58pm - One of the policeman involved in the earlier arrest attempt came and check the report made by Mr.Tamaraj and Mr.Murugan.


From 8.09pm - Report completed and we proceed to the 3rd floor to meet Sjn.Uda as instructed earlier. At the BILIK STANDBY- (2) DETEKTIF, a plaincloth Special Branch officer by the name of Naga, informed us that he received instruction that the Buah Pala Villagers are coming to surrender themself and he is stationed there to handle the situation. We were puzzled.

* At this point of time we already sense that something is not right and we suspect that it is related to the Developer or State Government's involvement and relation with the Demolition attempts.


At 8.21pm Sjn.Uda came into the office and he was not aware about the arrest instruction and the whole process. After discussing with Mr.Tamaraj and Mr.Murugan for few minutes and few phone calls, we were asked to meet Puan Sarah on the report made against Mr.Tamaraj months ago.


From 8.43pm - while waiting for Puan Sarah, we were asked to leave and come back once we receive call from Pn.Sarah. At the same time we were instructed to meet Insp.Megat at Jelutong Police Station regarding the case the committee made against Police.


From 9.01pm - At Jelutong police station.

Myself,Mr.Murugan, Mr.Tamaraj, Mr.Sugumaran and Mr.Steven were at the Police Station to meet Insp.Megat who came about 30mins later. He invited us to his office, upon entering the office, we realise something shocking written on the white notice board! The deadline for demolition is on the 1st Sept 2009 and the Suspects to be arrested on the 30th Aug 2009? Does'nt this trigger anything?

This is what written on the notice board in the Detectives room!

Insp.Megat was so humble while referring to the report made on the earlier incident of harrasment for less than a minute and went missing for about 15mins before coming back to proceed with collecting information on each Committee member. He then sat in front of the computer and made a personal check and keyed-in the detail check form.


After completing the detailed report he then told that he wants to detain Mr.Stephen, Mr.Tamaraj and Mr.Sugumaran for 2 reasons. A lady by the name of Santha who is a DAP member and Mr.Tamaraj's neighbor made a report against Mr.Tamaraj on the 9th July 2009 and a developer's contractor Nordin b.Mohd made a report against Mr.Stepehen and Mr.Sugumaran for harrassment on the 4th Aug 2009(Mr.Sugumaran was not in the Village on the said date).


He refuse to entertain further questions from us and he is firm to his decision to detain them. he kepts on informing us that it is a direct instruction from OCPD. He also said " Call whoever, any Dato's that can help you with this case, he also refuse to give details of the case to us, he only gave few info's and most of the thing he said was not accurate!


Lawyer for the Villagers, Darshan Singh arrived at the at the police station about an hour after the detention, he was not welcomed by Insp.Megat, who answered all the question with one answer "Ask my Boss!" when Darshan asked him who is your boss, he answered ASP Siddambaram. When called Siddambaram, he said they will be remanded tommorow morning at 11.00am and according to Megat it is at 11am. They refuse to cooperate with the Lawyer and doesnt even want to reveal the report no. and the person who made the report. which is crucial information for lawyers and it is their right to know. They kept on passing the ball between Siddambaram and Megat.


The Villager starts flooding the police station during the process of detention and at about 12am, there were around 200 villagers and supporters against the detention. At about 1am, when the police tried to ferry the detainees to Patani Rd Police Station, the warrior womens came in to the rescue, they blocked the police van and hailed "Kami tak Buat Salah, tangkap developer" and stood in front of the van, and pushing it until they themself reverse and took the committee members back to the station, the commotion lasted for about 20minutes. Until police gave up! and granted bail to them. Now, why do they grant the bail after all this commotions? they can just release them earlier under the same bail!.



This is the most interesting part in the whole incident, A lady by the name of Santha, who was named by the Police as the complainant for the report made on Tamaraj, suddenly appeared in front of the Van which is in the middle of the commotion and almost reached the Junction to turn left towards Patani Rd. She claimed that she never made any report against Tamaraj recently, and willing to confront the police on this issue, Insp.Megat was right there beside me but pretending not knowing the Issue, I asked him to verify the matter but he refused to talk, Santha went into the police station and explained that the report was made long time ago and it is not a deal now. She withdrew the report and Tamaraj's case is considered closed.

At The Scene...

Rwindraj@Cryingvoices

Buah Pala women block police van ferrying leaders

Hindraf files report, urges cops to act fast - Malaysiakini

The Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) has filed a police report on the controversial 'cow head' protest and urged the police to act swiftly.

Hindraf coordinator K Selvam told Malaysiakini said he lodged the report at the Shah Alam district police headquarters. He was accompanied by another 16 leaders and supporters from the movement.

"We wonder as to why the police have yet to take any action against the protesters although they have promised to act swiftly. Until today, nothing has been done," he said.

According to Selvam, the act of marching with the cow's head could create racial tension. “They marched about 300 metres with the head....it was seditious and the police did not do anything (to stop them),” he said.

PM cannot be quiet

Last Friday, some 50 residents from Section 23 in Shah Alam staged the protest against the proposal to relocate a Hindu temple to their area.

Before dispersing, several protesters spat and stomped on the cow's head. The cow is considered sacred to Hindus.

The protest drew flak from various quarters, including politicians from Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat

Selvam said the movement will stage a candlelight vigil on Saturday at Dataran Merdeka if the police fail to act against the protesters.

"We are urging the police to take action and the government should do something about it.

"The prime minister (Najib Abdul Razak) cannot just sit quiet on this matter because he keeps promoting the concept of 1Malaysia and this is a multiracial country," he said.

Earlier today, Selangor police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told Malaysiakinit that a special team has been set up to probe the matter and they hope to wrap up investigations by Tuesday.

The case is being investigated under the Sedition Act.

Buah Pala women block police van ferrying leaders


A tense midnight drama took place at the Jelutong police station in Georgetown, Penang, when some 30 Kampung Buah Pala residents formed a human barricade and forcefully stopped a police van from ferrying their three detained leaders to the lock-up.

The residents' resistance was so determined that the police van was forced to reverse to its parking bay.

Police personnel then took the handcuffed trio - M Sugumaran, Joseph Stephen Draviam and C Tharmaraj - back to the station.

The police released the trio on bail some two hours later.

In the 12.30am incident, the police van was about to ferry the detained village leaders to the city police headquarters in Jalan Patani when the residents, mostly women, formed a human barricade at the station's gate.

Chanting slogans, the residents successfully blocked the van from moving out before blazing media cameras.

During the commotion, there was some pushing and shoving by both the police and villagers, but no one was hurt or arrested.

Blogger Aravindraj who was at the scene proclaimed it as a victory for Makkal Sakti (people's power).

"This would go down in history that for the first time, people's power had overcome police power," they said.

Two police reports

A police officer said the trio were arrested earlier at 10.30pm based on two reports - one lodged by a resident M Shanta on July 9 and another by a Bangaldeshi called Nordin on Aug 4.

In her report, Shanta had accused Tharmaraj of threatening her during an argument in the village last month.

However, at 1.30am today Shanta suddenly appeared at the station and withdrew her report.

She told reporters later that the report was meant only to protect her from any harm. "But I never intended for Tharmaraj to be arrested," she said.

Nordin, a worker hired by developer Nusmetro Venture (P) Sdn Bhd, had accused Sugumaran and Stephen of threatening him when the developer brought a demolition team to tear down the houses in Kampung Buah Pala on Aug 3.

According to villagers at the police station, Stephen was nowhere near the villagers' human barricade while Sugumaran was not present at all in the village on that day.

The trio were arrested at 10.30pm when they went to the Jelutong police station to have their statements recorded following an earlier report by Tharmaraj on alleged police harassment.

Another villager K Murugan, 46, was also arrested together with them over another report lodged separately by a villager known only as Saravanan.

However, Murugan was released almost immediately apparently because the complainant had withdrawn his report.

State gov't blamed

Minutes after the news of the trio's arrest spread, villagers gathered at the police station.

However, despite requests by lawyer Darshan Singh Khaira and local MIC leaders, the police refused to allow the trio out on police bail.

The police had originally planned to remand the trio today.

"This must be the work of the state government," claimed Sugumaran upon his release.

Kampung Buah Pala is commonly known as the Tamil High Chaparral

The village faces demolition on Sept 1. Two previous demolition attempts by Nusmetro early this month were aborted following stiff resistance from the villagers.

Since 1999, the villagers and several social organisations have lobbied for the village to be preserved as a state Indian heritage village.

The High Chaparral crisis has remained as an explosive political issue for the DAP state government to date.